Having recently returned from this holiday I thought I'd post a review for anyone thinking of this trip.
I arrived via Easyjet at Faro airport - it's a while since I've flown with Easyjet but I had no problems at all with them and it was great flying straight from Newcastle to Faro with no connecting flights/overnight stays in hotels.
The hotel was lovely, I've never seen so much food and in such a variety - it was lovely. There was plenty of choice for breakfast, dinner, and your evening meal, plus free wine. There were some vegetarians on our trip who thought there wasn't enough choice for them, but one of them mentioned this to the chef and he said he would make them whatever they wanted - it wasn't an issue for me though.
Had the brillant John Milward as our tour guide - who I'd met before on a previous holiday to Barcelona, so I knew I was in safe hands.
The first day was a free day and John offered to meet everyone at a certain time and walk with them into the town centre.
The trips to Seville, The Columbus Trail (which I wasn't sure I'd enjoy but did), and Tavira (despite the rain!) were brilliant, and it was nice having some half-day trips, this allowed plenty of time for relaxing at the hotel or going on the hotel's beautiful private beach. Charry was a brilliant local guide and was very knowledgeable and funny.
I chose to do the optional bird watching for 1/2 a day on the Sunday. I'm no bird watcher as such but wanted to see some of the surrounding area. Five of us set of with our local guide, Manu, who was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the surrounding area. He drove us to various vantage points were we could see wildlife, including a chameleon that nobody else could see, through the lense Manu had brought with him, he also supplied us with binoculars. We also saw flamingos, ospreys, and loads of other birds which Manu knew the names/history of. We also found traces of otters, and Manu went into the water to show us the water containing the tiny pink shrimplike creatures which the flamingos eat - which none of us would even know where there. Manu also told us about the history of the area. I think this optional tour should be pushed a bit more as it's so good, and a lot of the people we talked to back at the hotel wished they'd gone too.
The last day we visited Huelva which has nothing really of historical interest but there are plenty of shops there, and a C&A's which did a roaring trade courtesy of our group. In the afternoon an impromptu football match was organised on the beach between men and women which was hilarious to watch - everyone who took part deserves a pat on the back.
All in all this was a very enjoyable holiday, enough sightseeing, enough free time to relax, and a brilliant tour guide and excellent bunch of people - many of whom were newbies.
